Quaker engagement with Israel and Palestine

Quakers in Britain have a long history of working for peace in Palestine and Israel.

As part of this commitment, Quakers manage the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), on behalf of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and other partner agencies. This work has built a body of experience across Britain Yearly Meeting, and has led to national decisions and actions based on our Quaker commitments to peace, justice and integrity.

In February 2011, Quakers in Britain agreed a national position to boycott products from the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The settlements are illegal under international law. Quakers consider that this boycott is a nonviolent move for peace for Israelis and Palestinians. Divestment and sanctions were not taken forward. Read a press release on the boycott of Israeli settlement goods (PDF) here.

In 2014, Britain's largest Quaker decision-making body, Yearly Meeting Gathering, issued a statement, calling on the UK government to take more concerted action for peace in Palestine and Israel. This included calling on the British government to officially recognise the state of Palestine on the same basis as it recognises the state of Israel. Read the statement on the recognition of Palestine in full (PDF) here.

While Quakers in Britain is not a member of the full Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement and does not advocate for BDS, we do support the right of organisations and citizens to engage in such democratic and legitimate means of nonviolent protest.